Singapore Armed Forces

The Armed Forces of Singapore ( Singapore Armed Forces), the component forces army, navy and air force.

Compulsory military service

Conscription in Singapore is 24 months, it starts from the age of 18 and ends at the age of 40 years ( for officers with 50 years of age ). Volunteers can commit from the age of 16. The military are citizens of Singapore and persons with unrestricted right of residence.

Military spending

The military budget in 2011 amounted to 12.3 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to a share of 4.9 percent of gross national product of the city state.

History

Back in 1854, established the British colonial administration to maintain public safety, the Singapore Volunteer Corps. This put mainly of Europeans. 1922, the association was renamed the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force in 1942 and took part in the side of the British Army in the Battle of Singapore.

Branches of the armed forces

Army

The Army has 50,000 active soldiers and an additional reserve of 170,000 men. As a tank will include Leopard 2A4, Centurions and M113 armored personnel carrier ( these are to be replaced by the Bionix ) used. The fact that Singapore threaten no direct threats by neighboring countries or invasions, yet the equipment of the army was reduced in favor of those of the Navy and the Air Force.

Marine

The main task of the 4,500 -strong Marine is to secure the sea lanes and the fight against piracy.

For this purpose, it maintains frigates ( Formidable - class) corvettes ( Victory - class), patrol boats, submarines and landing ships ( Endurance class). 2011 started the supply of two used submarines of the Archer class. In December 2013, the Navy ordered two submarines of the new HDW Class 218 SG at ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.

Air force

1968 gave Great Britain the withdrawal of all foreign troops east of the Suez Canal known. This Singapore was forced to establish their own air forces in the shortest possible time, as the existing protection was eliminated by the Royal Air Force. First Hawker Hunters were purchased and built the now 6,000 -strong Air Force in record time. Today, among other types of aircraft are F- 16C / D Fighting Falcon, F -5E / F Tiger II, CH -47 Chinook, AS332 Super Puma, AH- 64D Apache, S-70, C -130 Hercules, Fokker 50 MPA, Pilatus PC- 21 is inserted. The Air Force also operates an official aerobatic team, the Black Knights.

Bases

On its own territory, the RSAF operates four military air bases, all of them former Royal Air Force station:

  • Changi Air Base, base of tank (KC - 135R Stratotanker ), maritime patrol ( F50 ) and fighter aircraft (F -16), 112, 121 and 145 Squadron
  • Paya Lebar Air Base, base of transport (C -130) and fighter aircraft (F -5), 122, 141, 144 and 149 Squadron
  • Sembawang Air Base, base of combat (Apache), Interconnect ( AS 550 Fennec ) and transport helicopters (Super Puma, Cougar, Chinook ), 120, 123, 125, 126 and 127 Squadron
  • Tengah Air Base, base of early warning (E -2) and fighter aircraft (F -16), 111, 140 and 143 Squadron

Training squadrons for combat aircraft are in the West Australian RAAF Base Pearce with Aermacchi S 211 combat trainers as well as on the U.S. courts of Luke Air Force Base and Mountain Home Air Force Base for retraining on the use pattern of F- 16 and F- 15SG. In Australia and the U.S., it operates more training facilities for transport and tanker aircraft and helicopters. Except in these two countries, the RSAF maintains a more advanced training unit on the French military airfield Cazaux at Arcachon.

Republic of Singapore Air Force Bionix AFV Boeing CH-47 Chinook RSAF Black Knights
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